Seven Seas of Rhye
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| "Seven Seas of Rhye" | ||
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| Single by Queen | ||
| from the album Queen II | ||
| B-side(s) | See What a Fool I've Been | |
| Released | February 23, 1974 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | August 1973 at Trident Studios | |
| Genre | Hard rock | |
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| Label | EMI (UK), Elektra (US) | |
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |
| Producer(s) | Roy Thomas Baker and Queen | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Queen singles chronology | ||
| "Liar" (1974) |
"Seven Seas Of Rhye" (1974) |
"Killer Queen" (1974) |
Seven Seas of Rhye (30 second sample ) is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by English rock group Queen. It is the final track on the albums Queen and Queen II, released in 1973 and 1974, respectively. However, only a less-developed instrumental version was featured on the former. The completed version served as the band's third single. (The main theme of Seven Seas of Rhye also appears on the Made in Heaven in the track "It's A Beautiful Day Reprise.)
The song was released as a single, and after the band performed it on Top of the Pops it became their first hit, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
The song, like "My Fairy King" from the debut album, Queen, is about Freddie Mercury's childhood fantasy world named Rhye. The song became a live favourite throughout Queen's existence. It features a distinctive arpeggiated piano introduction — on the Queen II recording, the arpeggios are played with both the right and left hands, an octave apart, whereas on the Queen recording, and most live performances, Mercury played the simpler one-handed version of these arpeggios. The theme also appears at the end of "It's a Beautiful Day (Reprise)".
The version of Queen II ends with a cross fade, instruments blending into a "singsong"-style rendition of "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside".
The Seven Seas of Rhye are also mentioned in another Queen song, "Lily of the Valley" from Sheer Heart Attack; in the lyric "Messenger from Seven Seas has flown/To tell the king of Rhye he's lost his throne".
[edit] References in other works
Happy Rhodes references this and other Queen songs in her non-album track "Nevermore", her song about Freddie Mercury's passing.
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